Cleaning system of a hair removing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cleaning system for cleaning an operator head of a hair removing apparatus such as a dry shaver. The system includes a cleaning device having a housing configured to hold the shaver upside down to place the operator head in a basin for cleaning the same with a liquid supplied from a tank. The apparatus incorporates an externally controllable electric circuit for driving the operator head in accordance with an external electric signal generated by a controller within the device. The device&#39;s housing has a signal transmitting means for transmitting the electric signal, while the apparatus has a signal receiving means which comes into electrical interconnection with the signal transmitting means. The signal receiving means is disposed intermediate the height of the apparatus such that the electrical interconnection can be made within the height of the apparatus, requiring no extra height dimension to the system for the electrical interconnection.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to a cleaning system of a hairremoving apparatus, particularly a dry shaver with the use of a cleaningliquid.

BACKGROUND ART

U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,328 shows a cleaning system of a dry shaver having acleaning device. The device is formed at its lower end with a basin foraccommodating therein a shaver head of the shaver, and a tank containinga volume of a cleaning liquid and communicating with the basin through aliquid supply channel. A pump is provided to supply the liquid from thetank into the basin for cleaning the shaver head, i.e., cutters and theassociated parts. The dry shaver is elongated in shape to have theshaver head at its top end and an electric port at the opposite bottomend. When cleaning the shaver head, the shaver is held on the housingupside down with the shaver head placed into the basin. The housing isprovided with an electric terminal to give an electric signal to the dryshaver in order to drive the shaver head while circulating the liquidfrom the tank to the basin for enhancing the cleaning effect. Theelectric terminal is made for connection with the electric port at thebottom of the shaver. For this purpose, the housing is provided with avertical stand carrying the electric terminal at its upper end forconnection with the electric port of the shaver held upside down by thehousing. Thus, the portion of the vertical stand carrying the electricterminal adds an extra height dimension to the housing, in addition tomaking itself as a hindrance to the placement of the shaver upside downon the housing, thereby detracting from the compactness of the wholesystem as well as the convenience.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been achieved in view of the above problems toprovide an improved cleaning system composed of a hair removingapparatus and a cleaning device for cleaning an operator head of theapparatus. The apparatus has a height and carries at its top end anoperator head. The apparatus incorporates an externally controllableelectric circuit for driving the operator head and/or charging theapparatus in accordance with an external electric signal. The cleaningdevice includes a housing configured to hold the apparatus upside down,a basin formed in the housing for accommodating therein the operatorhead. A tank is provided on the housing to contain a volume of acleaning liquid. The cleaning device includes a supplying means forsupplying the cleaning fluid from the tank to the basin for cleaning theoperator head, and includes a controller for activating the supplyingmeans as well as for providing the electric signal. The housing isformed with a signal transmitting means for transmitting the electricsignal, while the hair removing apparatus has a signal receiving meanswhich comes into electrical interconnection with the signal transmittingmeans for giving the electric signal to the electric circuit when theapparatus is held by the housing. The important feature of the presentinvention resides in that the signal transmitting means is disposed at aportion of the housing upwardly of the basin, and that the signalreceiving means is disposed intermediate the height of the apparatus.Thus, the mechanism or parts for the electrical connection between thesignal transmitting means and the signal receiving means can be locatedwithin the height of the apparatus being held by the housing of thedevice, and therefore add no extra height dimension to the combinationof the device and the apparatus, thereby making the whole system compactsufficient to be installed in a limited space.

In a preferred embodiment, the signal receiving means is composed ofterminal pads formed on the exterior of an apparatus's casing, and thesignal transmitting means is realized by a set of contacts exposed on anexterior of the housing for pressed contact with the terminal pads,respectively.

Alternatively, the signal transmitting means is composed of a primarywinding that is concealed within the housing and is electromagneticallycoupled to a secondary winding held within the apparatus. The primarywinding is electrically coupled to the controller, while the secondarywinding is electrically coupled to the electric circuit of the apparatusand defines the signal receiving means. The primary and secondarywindings can be therefore concealed respectively within the apparatus'scasing and the device's housing to establish contact-free transformercoupling.

Preferably, the housing is provided with holding means which holds theapparatus in a position where the signal transmission means is kept inelectrical interconnection with the signal receiving means, insuring theelectrical interconnection.

For establishing a reliable electrical interconnection between thedevice and the apparatus, the holding means is preferred to include amechanism that gives a bias for urging the signal transmitting meanstowards the signal receiving means. That is, the mechanism may be in theform of a pulling unit that pulls the apparatus towards the housing, orin the form of a pushing unit that pushes the apparatus against thehousing.

Further, the housing may be shaped to have a bearing surface for bearingthe apparatus. The bearing surface is inclined with respect to a heightaxis of the housing and is provided with a stopper for engagement with aportion of the apparatus such that the apparatus is guided along theinclined bearing surface and develops the bias force by its own weightwhen it is engaged with the stopper.

These and still other advantageous features of the present inventionwill become more apparent from the following description of thepreferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning system shaver in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the abovesystem;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the system in a rather schematicrepresentation;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a dry shaver of the above system;

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of the above device illustrating theoperation of the above system;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the above system with the dryshaver being removed therefrom;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are vertical sections of the above system, respectivelywith and without the shaver;

FIG. 9 is another vertical section of the above system;

FIG. 10 is a rear vertical section of the above system;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the above system;

FIG. 12 is a vertical section of a detachable tank utilized in the abovesystem;

FIG. 13 is a top view of a drip pan utilized in the above system;

FIG. 14 is a vertical section of the drip pan;

FIG. 15 is a vertical section of a cleaning device in accordance with amodification of the above embodiment; and

FIG. 16 is a vertical section of a cleaning device in accordance with afurther modification of the above embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cleaning system forcleaning a hair removing apparatus, for example, a dry shaver 10 orepilator with the use of a cleaning liquid. The system includes acleaning device which has a housing 20 with a base 30 and a stand 40upstanding from a rear end of the base. Formed at the front end of thebase 30 is a basin 50 which is configured to receive an operator head,i.e., a shaver head 12 of the shaver 10. The cleaning liquid is storedin a tank 100 detachably mounted to the stand 40 and is connected to thebasin 50 for supplying the liquid into the basin and for recovering theliquid therefrom. The device includes a pump 70 which is controlled tocirculate the cleaning liquid between the tank 100 and the basin 50 forcleaning the shaver head 12. The cleaning operation continues for apredetermined period. Thereafter, a control is made to collect theliquid from the basin 50 into the tank 100, details of which will bediscussed later. Upon recovery of the liquid into the tank, a fan 200 isactuated to produce a forced air flow over the head 12 for drying thesame.

As shown in FIG. 2, a drip pan 60 is disposed immediately below thebasin 50 for collecting the liquid dripping and/or overflowing from thebasin 50. The drip pan 60 has a top opening which communicates with adrain port 52 at the bottom center of the basin 50, and also with anoverflow duct 34 leading to an upper edge of the basin 50. The drip pan60 has a filter 63 for entrapping contaminants dislodged from the shaverhead 12 and carried on the liquid dribbling through the drain port 52into the drip pan 60. The liquid thus cleared of the contaminants is fedthrough a connection port 65 to a fluid intake channel 22 leading to thetank 100. The pump 70 is disposed in the fluid intake channel 22 fordrawing the liquid from the basin 50. The fluid intake channel 22 isopen to the atmosphere through the drain port 52, the overflow duct 34,and also through an air vent 36 formed in the base 30 around the basin50. Thus, depending upon the level of the liquid in the basin 50, theoutside air is drawn alone or together with the liquid by the action ofthe pump 70 into the tank 100 through the fluid intake channel 22. Thetank 100 is provided in the form of a hermetically sealed containerhaving an inlet and an outlet. The inlet is defined by a fluid inlettube 102 which is detachably connected to the fluid intake channel 22for taking in the liquid and/or the air. The outlet is defined by aliquid outlet tube 104 which is detachably connected to a liquid supplychannel 24 formed in the housing 20 and leading to a spout 25 upwardlyof the basin 50, as best shown in FIG. 9, for flowing the liquid downinto the basin 50. Turning back to FIG. 2, the liquid outlet tube 104 isconnected to a U-shaped sucking tube 105 which extends deep into thetank 100 to a point adjacent to the bottom of the tank for sucking theliquid. Further, the tank 100 is formed with an air exhaust tube 106detachably connected to an air exhaust channel 26 which extends withinthe housing 20 and is open to the atmosphere through ventilation windows29 or clearances in the walls of the housing 20. An air valve 80 isdisposed in the air exhaust channel 26 to selectively close the tank andopen it to the atmosphere. The air valve 80 is realized by anormally-closed electromagnetic valve which opens upon being energizedor supplied with an electric current. A cap 112 is detachably andsealingly mounted in a filling port 110 in the upper end of the tank 100for replacing or replenishing the liquid.

Now, the operation of the device is discussed with reference to FIGS. 2and 5. The device includes a power supply 90 providing an electric powerto various electrical parts, and a controller 92 responsible forcontrolled operations of the associated parts. When a switch 94 isactivated, the controller 92 responds to provide a supply mode and arecovery mode in sequence. In the supply mode, the pump 70 is activatedwith the air valve 80 being kept closed, i.e., the tank being kepthermetically sealed. Initially, the basin 50 is substantially free fromthe liquid such that only the air is drawn and accumulated in the tank100 to increase the inside air pressure. As the air pressure increases,the liquid in the tank 100 is forced to expel out through the liquidoutlet tube 104 and the liquid supply channel 24 into the basin 50. Inthis connection, it is noted that the drain port 52 of the basin 50 isdimensioned such that the flow rate of the liquid dripping into the drippan 60 is smaller than that of the liquid being supplied from the tank100, thereby increasing the amount of the liquid in the basin 50. Afterthe basin 50 is filled with the liquid, an extra amount of the liquid iscaused to overflow into the drip pan 60, maintaining the liquid in thebasin 50 at a constant level. In this connection, the air iscontinuously drawn into the tank with the superfluous liquid to keepsupplying the liquid into the basin 50, i.e., circulating the liquidbetween the tank 100 and the basin 50 for cleaning the shaver head 12.The supply mode continues over a predetermined time period during whichthe shaver head is activated intermittently or continuously to shake thecontaminants off, enhancing the cleaning effect.

The supply mode is automatically followed by the recovery mode in whichthe pump 70 is activated with the air valve 80 kept opened to collectthe liquid from the basin 50 through the drip pan 60 into the tank 100.With the air valve 80 being opened, i.e., the tank 100 opened to theatmosphere, the air drawn by the pump 70 is exhausted through the airvalve 80 so as to recover the liquid and collect only the liquid in thetank 100. The recovery mode continues over a predetermined time periodto collect the whole liquid into the tank. Near the end of the period,the shaver head is controlled to be activated for shaking the liquidoff. Thereafter, the fan 200 is activated to dry the shaver head with orwithout the shaver head being actuated. Thus, the supply mode and therecovery mode are accomplished with the use of a single pump and the airvalve.

As schematically shown in FIG. 3, the tank 100 is L-shaped to have awide header section 114 and a vertically elongated section 116overlapping the rear face of the stand 40. The tank 100 is mounted onthe housing 20 with the horizontal section 114 resting on a mountingface 41 on top of the stand 40. The fluid inlet tube 102, the liquidoutlet tube 104, and the air exhaust tube 106 are integrally formed withthe tank 100 to project on the bottom of the header section 114 fordetachably connection with the fluid intake channel 22, the liquidsupply channel 24, and the air exhaust channel 26, respectively. Forthis purpose, the ends of the channels 22, 24, and 26 are integratedinto a combination socket 28 formed in the mounting face 41, as shown inFIG. 10. Thus, the tank 100 can be attached to the housing 20 from theabove.

The device further includes a filter detector 98 which issues a stopsignal when the drip pan 60 is not in position below the basin 50. Inresponse to the stop signal, the controller 92 deactivates the pump 70and the associated parts to cease the above operation. A display 96 isincluded in the device to give information about which one of the supplymode and the recovery mode is proceeding, and the elapsed time. Further,a signal transmitting terminal 91 is provided on the side of the housing20 for transmitting an electric signal that is received in a shavercontroller 14 to activate the shaver head 12 or a charging circuit 16for charging a battery 15. As best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the terminal91 includes a set of contacts 93 exposed on the front wall of the stand40 for contact with a corresponding set of pads 13 formed on theexterior of the shaver 10. The pads define a signal receiving terminal11 represented in FIG. 5 through which the signal is transmitted to theshaver controller 14. The contacts 93, i.e., the terminal 91 is locatedintermediate the height of the stand 40 for intimate contact with thepads 13 or the receiving terminal 11 when the shaver 10 is held upsidedown to place the shaver head 12 into the basin 50.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 15, the housing 20 may include thesignal transmitting terminal in the form of a primary winding 93A fortransformer coupling with a secondary winding 13A placed within theshaver as the signal receiving terminal. In this modification, both ofthe windings can be concealed within the housing and shaver,respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, the stand 40 carries a holding means, i.e., amechanism of holding the shaver 10 in position. The mechanism includes apair of clasps 42 which are spaced widthwise with respect to the heightdimension of the housing 20 and are pivotally supported to the stand 40to be movable between a holding position of bracing the shaver 10 and areleasing position permitting the removable of the shaver. The clasps 42are biased by coil springs 43 to the holding position in which theclasps 42 engage the opposite sides of the shaver 10. Each of the clasps42 is formed at its upper and lower end respectively with inclinedguides 44 for sliding contact with tapered head sides 18 as well as toptapered sides 19 adjacent to the shaver head 12, as shown in FIG. 4.Thus, the clasps 42 can be forced to open temporarily in the releaseposition when the shaver is moved vertically to place the shaver head 12into the basin 50, allowing the easy attachment of the shaver, afterwhich the clasps close by the action of the springs into the holdingposition. Also, when the shaver is moved vertically to pull the shaverhead 12 out of the basin 50, the clasps 42 are forced to open by contactwith the top tapered sides 19 of the shaver, permitting the easydetachment of the shaver from the device. In the holding position, theclasps 42 urges the shaver 10 towards the stand 40 in order to keep thepads 13 of the receiving terminal 11 pressed against the correspondingcontacts 93 for reliable signal transmission therebetween. In thisembodiment, the clasps 42 establishes a pulling unit that pulls theapparatus 10 towards the stand 40, i.e., a portion of the housing 20opposed to the apparatus under the bias of the springs 43 for reliableelectrical interconnection between the apparatus 10 and the device.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the stand 40 has a front face which isconfigured to guide the apparatus 10 to a holding position where theshaver head 12 is received within the basin 50. For this purpose, thefront face has is a guide face 46 which is inclined with respect to avertical or height axis of the housing 20 and which is formed at itslower end with a stopper 48 for abutting against a shoulder of theapparatus or shaver 10. The stopper 48 is positioned so that theapparatus 10 is caused to lean upon the front face of the stand by itsown weight, thereby urging the pads 13 of the receiving terminal 11against the contacts 93 of the transmitting terminal 91 for reliableelectrical contact therebetween. In this sense, the electricalconnection can be made successfully even without relying upon thesprings 43 of the clasps 42.

FIG. 16 shows a modification of the above system in which the housing 20carries a holding means 40B in the form of a pushing unit that includesa pusher 42B movably supported by the housing 20. The pusher 42B isnormally biased by a spring 43B to have its end abutted against theshaver 10, thereby holding the shaver in position and at the same timedeveloping a contact pressure between the signal transmitting terminal91B of the housing 20 and the signal receiving terminal 11B of theshaver for reliable electrical interconnection therebetween. In thismodification, like parts are designated by like reference numerals witha suffix letter of “B”.

The drip pan 60 is made detachable to the housing 20 for easy cleaningof the filter 63 as well as the pan 60 itself. As shown in FIGS. 7, 8,and 14, the drip pan 60 is provided in the form of a drawer having afront handle 64 and the top opening which comes into fluid communicationwith the drain port 52 of the basin 50, the air vent 36, and theoverflow duct 34 for receiving the liquid and/or the air therethrough. Arecess 32 is formed at the front end of the base 30 immediately belowthe basin 50 to accommodate the drip pan 60. The inner bottom of the pan60 is inclined downwardly towards the connection port 65 for smoothlyguiding the liquid to the fluid intake channel 22. As shown in FIG. 14,the interior space of the drip pan 60 is divided by the filter 63 into afirst chamber 61 and a second chamber 62. The first chamber 61 is indirect open communication with the drain port 52 and the overflow duct34 for collecting the liquid and/or the air respectively therethrough,thereby depositing the contaminants carried by the liquid on the filter63. The second chamber 62 is in direct open communication with the airvent 36 and with the connection port 65 for feeding the liquid clearedof the contaminants as well as the outside air into the fluid intakechannel 22. For this purpose, the filter 63 is bent into an L-shapedsection, as shown in FIG. 14. The pan 60 is formed with an electrode(not shown) which is sensed by the filter detector to determined thepresence of the pan in the recess 32. The drip pan 60 is designed tohave a liquid storing capacity larger than that of the basin 50 in orderto collect the entire volume of the liquid from the basin 50 even if thepump 70 should stop during the supply mode. The filter is preferred tohave a filtering area of 700 mm² or more. Further, instead of providingthe removable drip pan 60, the filter 63 alone may be detachable to thehousing for frequent cleaning purpose.

The cleaning system in accordance with the present invention can beequally applied for cleaning the epilating head of a hand-held epilatoror other operator head of similar hair removing apparatus.

1. A cleaning system comprising a hair removing apparatus and a cleaningdevice, said apparatus having a height and an operator head at its topend, said apparatus incorporating an externally controllable electriccircuit for driving said operator head and/or charging said apparatus inaccordance with an external electric signal, said cleaning devicecomprising: a housing configured to hold said apparatus in an invertedmanner; a basin formed in said housing for accommodating therein saidopemtor head; a tank provided on the housing to contain a volume of acleaning liquid, a supplying means for supplying the cleaning fluid fromsaid tank to said basin for cleaning the operator head; a controller foractivating said supplying means as well as for providing said electricsignal, said housing being formed with a signal transmitting means fortransmitting said electric sianal, said hair removing apparatus having asignal receiving means which comes into electrical interconnection withsaid signal transmitting means for giving said electric signal to saidelectric circuit when said apparatus is held by said housing; whereinsaid signal transmitting means is disposed at a portion of the housingupwardly of said basin, and said signal receiving means is disposedintermediate the height of said apparatus, said housing is provided withholding means which holds the apparatus in a position where said signaltransmission means is kept in electrical interconnection with saidsignal receiving means. said holding means includes a mechanism thatgives a bias for urging said signal transmitting means towards saidsignal receiving means, and said housing has a bearing surface forbearing said apparatus, said bearing surface being inclined with respectto a height axis of said housing and being provided with a stopper forengagement with a portion of the apparatus such that the apparatus isguided along the inclined bearing surface and develops the bias force byits own weight when it is engaged with the stopper.